TDP stages dharna over Babhali

Nizamabad: Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leaders and activists staged a massive dharna at the Dharna Chowk here on Tuesday. They demanded the State Government to stop the Babhali and 13 other illegal projects across the River Godavari in Maharashtra by filing a review petition in Supreme Court. The Supreme Court had earlier given a stay order on the construction of the project. TDP leaders expressed their concern over the future of Sri Ram Sagar Project (SRSP) and the desertification of the command area. They said that government's inefficiency was the main reason for the present crisis. They alleged that Maharashtra Government was also constructing 13 other irrigation projects on the Godavari. They urged the government to form an all-party committee on the issue. 'Eighteen lakh acres of SRSP ayacut in six districts of Telangana would face problems due to the project,' TDP leaders said. They expressed their concern over the decline of the water storage capacity of the project as it was reduced from 112 Trillion Metric Cusecs (TMC) to 80 TMC. Nizamabad Rural MLA Mandava Venkasteswara Rao, Jukkal MLA Hanmanth Shinde, MLCs Narsa Reddy, VG Goud and a large number of TDP activists participated in the programme.